Ashley House
Reporter
C-U Comedy Club was the brainchild of Jesse Tuttle, a local Champaign-Urbana comic, who gained the inspiration back in 2009 from a dissatisfaction with open mic nights hosted at Memphis on Main. “There were times when we were lucky if there were 10 people there,” Tuttle commented. “I took it over pretty quickly…It became more about branding.” Tuttle realized it should no longer just be open mic nights in Champaign, but C-U Comedy Club’s Open Mic Nights, a more recognizable brand to label shows under. This helped with booking shows in other cities in Illinois for C-U regulars, such as Jesse himself and his twin brother Justin, who very quickly got involved with getting their brand off the ground by creating the website and logos.
In addition to hoping to launch careers for local comedians, C-U Comedy has lately been looking to expanding its efforts to raise awareness for mental health in our community. Jesse Tuttle recently had an eye opening experience, which again struck a chord of inspiration within him, this time one that emboldened him to lend service and support to those struggling with mental health issues. Tuttle shared with a crowd last week that he himself had experienced hospitalization. While he did not go into much detail on what lead up to this, he shared an uplifting message during his five minutes on stage. “I realized I had lost my sense of humor,” he stated. “So I vowed to never lose my sense of humor again. And I think that’s so important. No matter what happens to you or what gets you down, you can never ever lose your sense of humor.” When I sat down with him after the show, we spoke of the good and not so good sides of mental health centers and services available. “I think they can do a lot more harm than good,” Tuttle said. “There’s got to be a way that we can make their stays better there.”
Tuttle shared with me that while he hasn’t had time yet to really sit down and hash out a plan on how get involved with mental health centers, he did have a few ideas on where to start. First and foremost, Tuttle wants to get in touch with centers in the area and work out a way to provide something as simple as Diet Coke to the patients within, as a simple comfort item. “I saw how much that helped some of the people, just having something familiar,” he commented. Tuttle is also toying with the idea of dedicating specific ticketed comedy shows to raising money to help cover the cost of inpatient stays, as well as medication and appointments. “What happens if you don’t apply for Medicaid or the program, you’re going to go into debt,” Tuttle says. “There has to be something locally we can do.” While this new project is still in its infancy, Tuttle is excited to continue researching ways to get involved and begin implementing them as soon as possible. He is open to all possibilities right now, only wishing to ease some of the burden on the community, and is accepting suggestions or volunteer inquiries via email.
Parkland students looking for a fun night out, an interesting new hobby, or a new way to get involved in the community can look no further than the Champaign-Urbana Comedy Club. Open Mic Nights are hosted at the Clark Bar in downtown Champaign and are free to the general public every Wednesday and Thursday night at 9pm. Ticketed shows happen on either Friday or Saturday nights at the C-U Comedy Club, located in Soma. Tickets for these shows can be purchased online or at the door for anywhere from $10-$20 per show.
If you are interested in learning about Open Mic Nights or ticketed shows, or about how you can get involved, visit cucomedy.com or email Jesse Tuttle at jesse@cucomedy.com.
